Kosovo - list of Civilians murdered presumably by KLA in 1998

Kosovo was never the happy place you claim it to be

I'm with you on this one, Hoplite. I can't imagine Kosovo ever being a happy place. Granted, I was a mere child when there in 1972, but I had eyes. And happy it wasn't. Dirty and grimy, nasty-looking folks in Pristina. Wonderful hospitality in the hinterlands. But "happy" is not a word I would EVER use to describe that place. I have always thought the land itself might somehow have limited the happiness of anyone living on it. But, then again, people do make their own happiness in a sense, and much more inhospitable lands have produced much more fulfilled people. A puzzle.

The Serbs in Croatia were unhappy enough to form the RSK and go to war with their Croat neighbors.

Here I'll have to disgree with you. The Serbs weren't unhappy in the 1980's. (Many Croats, were, though, with Serbs, but that's another story.)

RSK started out in Knin with the inbreds and the thugs. Knin proplerly belongs in Hercegovina anyway, IMHO. It's rather an inbred and thuggy place, same as Hercegovina.

RSK had no hope in former Sector North (Banja and Kordun) until Tudjman sent his goons into Glina, who then so horrified the local populace they went RSK.

In fact, if you look at actual historical events, it becomes obvious that Tudjman baited and baited these people until their craws stuck. (BTW, ordinary citizens of Banja and Kordun always hated RSK and its corrupt provincial leaders -- also, BTW, many Croats lived in peace in Banja and Kordun during the RSK years...I knew quite a few of them!)

Sector East might NEVER have gone RSK had it not been for the (Tudjman-backed) Glavas-orchestrated assination of Reichel-Kir. (Ever met Glavas? I psycho if I ever saw one!)

So what keeps popping up, what made the happy Serbs in Sectors North and East opt for RSK? Not the allure of RSK itself (far from it), but Tudjman's orchestrations and machinations! Not to excuse the RSK scum leaders by any means, but this was clearly Tudjman's desire. And it worked well for him. See? He got just what he wanted.

As for Sector West, well, the flattened Serb villages of 1990 and the well-known tortures and executions sent them the RSK way.

What really kills me is NONE OF THIS NEEDED TO HAPPEN! The peoples of Yugoslavia had such a wonderful position in history -- to see how the break-up of the former Soviet Union affected the newly-independent countries and the break-away republics and benefit from the new history lesson. Yugoslavia COULD have broken up slowly and peacefully, retaining trade and economic ties between the republics to the benefit of all. (Exception being Slovenia, which could have broken away early with no problems to anyone.) But some folks (US and Germany in particular) didn't want that. Now look what. Sad, isn't it?

Anyway, in my book Martic and Babic are the ones who ought to be on trial. Whatever became of those traitors, anyway?

Hey wonders, hope the arm is better - apart from a nit about 1991 vs. 1990 (I have the Spring of 1991 pegged as the outbreak of any sort of killing or destruction in Croatia - if not, send me a link) and Germany and the US wanting Yugoslavia to implode (implosions being very bad for business, which is, after all, what American Foreign Policy is ultimately geared towards).

I was trying to remember Reichel-Kir's name the other day as an example of people that Yugoslavia needed more of, but it escaped me, and I agree wholeheartedly with your appraisal of 1980 as being a 'good year', occurring before the reign of the Nationalists as it did.

Regards,

Hop

Thanks, Hoplite. Excellent observations in your post #63.

Yes, it did start in the latter half of 1990, although few know about it. Please check your FReepMail!

As for sensible people prevailing, well, it looks like they haven't so far, but may eventually gain some ground. (Or maybe "hope springs eternal" in me, I don't know!)

Anyway, sometime maybe we should discuss the economic and business aspects of the way former Yugoslavia broke up and how very different it might have been if sensible people had prevailed. (I'm talking Serbia/Montenegro, Croatia and BiH. Slovenia's economy was not so intertwined with the rest of Yugoslavia -- so, as I said, Slovenia could have gone its way with little economic impact to itself or the other constituent republics.)

Always wanted to go trout fishing in Slovenia, but never got the chance (sigh).

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